Happy Independence Day, 2009

We kept it low key for the 4th of July this year and generally just enjoyed the day together (me hoping that I'd go into labor at any moment; however, that didn't turn out). Our neighbors; on the other hand, decided to go all out and throw a big shindig. They put adorable invites with red, white and blue ribbon and a firework attached to each in all of our mailboxes and pulled their chairs and grills out to the front of the houses. We joined them for the festivities, and the late night fireworks; although Kate only participated in the daylight activities - to include holding her first sparkler and throwing those snapping things on the street with all of the big kids. She also saw some some cool, colored smoke bombs and told me, "that's a lot of smokin, Mama!" She probably didn't go to bed until about 10pm, but had a great time celebrating with her BFF Joey and the big kids of the hood.